Reagent vessel cap and method for collecting reagent

ABSTRACT

A reagent vessel cap includes a sealing member for sealing the opening of a vessel body; an pressurizing member linked to a retaining part for sealing the sealing member, for bringing the sealing member in close contact with the opening all the time, wherein when pressure is applied, the pressurizing member lifts the sealing member against the biasing force of itself to open the vessel and, when the pressure is eliminated, the pressurizing member returns to position by the biasing force to close the vessel by the sealing member; and a cap body capable of mounting the sealing member and the pressurizing member to the opening of the vessel body containing a reagent. The reagent is collected using the cap structure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a cap structure of a vessel used tocontain a liquid reagent in analytical instruments which are widelyemployed for chemistry, biology, and medical treatments and to a methodfor collecting the reagent without the evaporation of the reagent. Moreparticularly, it relates to a cap attached to the opening of the vesselfor sealing it, which is opened only when the reagent is collected, thusallowing the contained reagent to be dispensed and to prevent theevaporation and the like of the reagent and to a method for collectingthe reagent by using the cap.

2. Description of the Related Art

Reagents for various analytical instruments used for chemical orbiological analysis and determination are generally kept in glass orsynthetic resin vessels. In order to prevent the evaporation andcontamination of the contained liquid reagents, the openings of thevessels are tightly sealed for supply, transportation, and storage. Whenthey are used, in general, the reagent vessels are stored with the sealcap removed in insulating containers at a specified temperature whichare provided to the various analytical instruments and the reagents areautomatically collected from the vessels with collecting probes attachedto the analytical instruments.

Since the vessels in the insulating container are opened in principle,the liquid reagents stored in the such vessels have many problems to besolved such as the risk of contamination, changes in concentration andcomposition with passage of time due to the evaporation of moisture andvolatile components and the outflow of the reagents due to the tippingof the vessels in handling. Accordingly, various means have beenproposed for preventing the contamination, evaporation, anddeterioration of the reagents.

For example, Patent Document 1, Japanese Unexamined Patent ApplicationPublication No. 5-294354 (claim 1, FIG. 1) proposes a “cap” whichincludes a top wall having an opening, a skirt without a screw which ismade of a soft material, which is constructed to extend downward fromthe top wall, and slide on the vessel to come in tight engagementtherewith, a slim arm having a sealing device for sealing the openingand moving between a sealing position and an unsealing position, and abiasing device for pushing the arm toward the sealing position.

Patent Document 2, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application PublicationNo. 11-194132 (claim 1), proposes a cap whose lid is capable of beingturned laterally upward from a cap sealing position and having aninclined bistable hinge for opening a vessel and one or more catchescapable of coming in contact with a device for pressurizing the cap.

Patent Document 3, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application PublicationNo. 2000-137032 (claim 1), proposes means for preventing the evaporationof a reagent by holding a liquid having a lower specific gravity thanthat of the reagent in a vessel, which is not mixed to the reagent, andby covering the surface of the reagent with the liquid.

Furthermore, commercially available analytical instruments use a vesselhaving an elastic thin sealing member serving as an inside plug at theopening, the sealing member having radial slits from the center, whereinwhen a reagent-collecting probe is moved downward, it is expandeddownward and when the reagent-collecting probe is removed, it returns toa horizontal position by elasticity to cover the opening (Architecti2000, made of Abbott Laboratories).

However, the “cap” which has the mechanically openable and closablesection as described in Patent Document 1 has a very complicatedstructure and so requires a device for pressurizing the “cap” which isset to the vessel when applied to various analytical instruments, thushaving problems to be solved in practice such as requiring an additionalfunction and production cost for the vessel.

As described in Patent Document 3, the means for preventing theevaporation of a liquid reagent by covering the surface with a liquidhaving a lower specific gravity than that of the reagent has not themechanical structure as in the above-described “cap”, offeringadvantages of no contact between the reagent and air and preventingevaporation. However, since the vessel is always opened, the leakage ofthe reagent due to tipping of the vessel in handling cannot beprevented.

Furthermore, the commercial inside-plug type necessarily requires slitsin a thin seal member serving as an inside plug to form clearance in theplug itself, thus having insufficient effects in preventing evaporationof a reagent and air shield, also requires careful operation in theprocess of attachment of the plug after the removal of the cap so thatthe reagent is not contaminated, and particularly has the problem ofcontamination of a collecting probe and also of the reagent due tocontact of the reagent-collecting probe with the sealing member.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, in view of the above-described problems, it is an object ofthe present invention to provide a reagent vessel cap capable ofpreventing a change in concentration and deterioration due toevaporation and the like without exposure of a contained liquid reagentto the open air by being attached to the opening of the vessel, allowingrepeated collections without the need to be detached from the opening atthe collection of necessary amount by the collecting probe of theanalytical instrument, and having no possibility of contaminating thecollecting probe and the reagent and to provide a method for collectingreagents using the cap structure.

In order to achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of thepresent invention, a reagent vessel cap is provided which includes asealing member for sealing the opening of a vessel; a pressurizingmember linked to a retaining part for the sealing member to bring thesealing member in close contact with the opening all the time, whereinwhen pressure is applied, the pressurizing member lifts the sealingmember against the biasing force of itself to open the opening and, whenthe pressure is eliminated, the pressurizing member returns to positionby the biasing force to close the vessel by the sealing member; and thesealing member, the retaining part, and the pressurizing member arecapable of mounting to the opening of the vessel containing a reagent.

In the reagent vessel cap according to the present invention,preferably, the vessel is self-supported and is shaped like a long andnarrow trapezoid in plan view, and has a cylindrical opening having amale screw around the outer periphery at one end of the top and anengaging plate projecting from the other end.

In the reagent vessel cap according to the invention, preferably, thesealing member is formed of a disk-shaped elastic body in general viewand integrally has an engaging protrusion in the center of the top, theprotrusion having a bulge portion for preventing falling-off at the end.

In the reagent vessel cap according to the invention, preferably, theretaining part is shaped like an inverse cup in general view andintegrally has a through hole in the center of the top for receiving theengaging protrusion of the sealing member and integrally has aconnecting part extending horizontally at part thereof.

In the reagent vessel cap according to the invention, preferably, theconnecting part has a recessed cutout part at the end and integrally hasside plates extending downward vertically on the back of the oppositesides of the cutout part, a shaft support on the each side plate atsymmetric position and a cylindrical or round-rod-like connecting shafttherebetween.

In the reagent vessel cap according to the invention, preferably, thepressurizing member has an engagement retaining part for engaging andretaining the connecting shaft of the connecting part, at the end of anarm having a slight chevron shape in general view, seen from the side;shaft supports in symmetric positions on the side of the base endthereof; and an elastic arc-shaped arm-supporting member is integrallyformed toward the end, on the back near the shaft support.

In the reagent vessel cap according to the invention, preferably, thearm has a hemispherical bulge portion on the surface of a chevron shapedtop.

In the reagent vessel cap according to the invention, preferably, thecap body is shaped like a hollow cylinder having a female screw aroundthe inner periphery, the female screw being in engagement with a malescrew of the vessel, and integrally has a laterally long housing at partof the outer periphery, the housing having an opening at the top.

In the reagent vessel cap according to the invention, preferably, thehousing comprises recessed shaft bearings for receiving shaft supportsof the connecting part in opposing side walls near the cap and recessedshaft bearings for receiving the shaft supports of the arm thatconstitutes the pressurizing member in the side walls apart from the capbody, respectively.

In the reagent vessel cap according to the invention, preferably, thehousing integrally includes an undersurface on the inner bottom whichalways in contact with the end of an arm support member of thepressurizing member, a pair of flexible plates that comes intoengagement with a retaining plate formed on the vessel for positioningon the back, and a leg for supporting the housing on the vessel body.

In the reagent vessel cap according to the invention, preferably, thehousing is constructed such that the symmetric shaft bearings formed inthe side walls apart from the cap are horizontal long holes to allow thearm to be slightly moved to and fro with the rotation of thepressurizing member supported by the shaft bearings.

In the reagent vessel cap according to the invention, preferably, thecap and the housing are molded in one piece of plastic.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a method forcollecting a reagent is provided which includes the steps of: arranginga sealing member attached to a retaining part for a sealing member onthe opening of a vessel containing a reagent; tightly sealing theopening with the sealing member by the biasing force of an pressurizingmember linked with the retaining part to shield the reagent from outsideair; pushing the pressurizing member against the urging force to rotatethe linked retaining part upward, thereby opening the vessel; andcollecting the reagent.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of an example of how to use thereagent vessel cap according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cap of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the opening of a reagent vessel in an openstate; and

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the reagent vessel.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A preferred embodiment of a reagent vessel cap and a method forcollecting reagents according to the present invention will be describedhereinafter with reference to the drawings. It is to be understood thatvarious modifications may be made in the invention without departingfrom the spirit and scope thereof.

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of an example of how to use thereagent vessel cap according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a planview of the cap of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a side view of the opening of thereagent vessel in an open state; and FIG. 4 is a plan view of thereagent vessel.

In the drawings, numeral 1 denotes a reagent vessel for containing aliquid reagent. A reagent vessel cap 2 (hereinafter, simply referred toas a cap 2) of the invention is attached to an opening 12 of the reagentvessel 1 after a seal cap (not shown) attached to the opening 12 forpreventing contamination and evaporation of the contained reagent hasbeen removed when the reagent vessel 1 is hung or stored in aninsulating container of an analytical instrument or the like for use inanalysis.

The cap 2 is provided as an attachment of the reagent vessel 1 or ananalytical instrument. The cap 2 can be attached to individual reagentvessel at the use of the reagent, or alternatively, it can be attachedto an analytical instrument in advance and the reagent vessel 1 can bein turn attached to the cap 2.

As clearly shown in FIG. 1, the cap 2 principally includes a cap body 3attached to the outer periphery of the opening 12 of the reagent vessel1, a sealing member 4 for tightly sealing an opening 31 of the cap body3, and an pressurizing member 6 for pushing a retaining part 5 forretaining the sealing member 4 to the opening 31 all the times, and ahousing 7 which rotatably holds the pressurizing member 6.

The reagent vessel 1 includes a self-supported vessel body 11 which hasa long and narrow trapezoidal shape in plan view and the cylindricalopening 12 projecting from one end of the top of the vessel body 11,having a male screw 13 around the outer periphery of the opening 12 anda locking plate 14 upwardly integrated with the other end of the top.The locking plate 14 may be a picking member attached to conventionalreagent vessels.

The cap body 3 is shaped like a hollow cylinder which has substantiallythe same height as that of the opening 12 and has a female screw 32around the inner periphery, which is in engagement with the male screw13 of the opening 12 of the reagent vessel 1, the upper end being benthorizontally along the axis to form a flanged engaging part 33, thusconstituting a mount for the sealing member 4.

When the cap body 3 is molded, by forming a ring-shaped extending part34 extending downward from the back of the engaging part 33, which is incontact with the inside periphery of the opening 12 of the vessel body11, the cap body 3 can be more securely fitted on the opening 12 of thevessel body 11.

As clearly shown in FIG. 1, the pressurizing member 6 for always pushingthe retaining part 5 for fixing the sealing member 4 to the opening 31and the housing 7 which rotatably holds the pressurizing member 6 areintegrated with each other at part of the side of the cap body 3.

The sealing member 4 is made of an elastic body such as natural rubber,synthetic rubber, and thermoplastic elastomer or a soft resin, and ispreferably formed of a disk plate having a thickness of about 1 to 2 mmand a diameter to allow contact with the top of the flanged engagingpart 33 of the cap body 3, having no particular limit to the thickness,and has an engaging protrusion 41 in the center of the top for retainingit to the retaining part 5 which is drivingly connected to thepressurizing member 6, on the top of which an bulge portion forpreventing falling-off is provided.

The retaining part 5 for retaining the sealing member 4 has an openingrim shaped like an inverse cup which is in contact with the top of thecap body 3, having a through hole for the engaging protrusion 41 of thesealing member 4 to pass through in the center of the top and aconnecting part 8 integrally formed at the part of the top, whichprotrudes horizontally toward the housing 7.

Referring to FIG. 2, the connecting part 8 has a cutout part 81 at theend for receiving the end of the pressurizing member 6, on the back ofthe opposite sides of the cutout part 81, side plates 82 which extendvertically downward are integrally formed, and on the outside of theside plates 82, shaft supports 83 are provided which come in engagementwith recessed shaft bearings 72 formed in opposing side walls 71 of thehousing 7.

A column- or round-bar-like connecting shaft 84 is placed in positionbetween the side plates 82 and by fitting the shaft supports 83 into theshaft bearings 72 of the housing 7, the connecting part 8 can be rotatedupward with the shaft supports 83 as the fulcrum, as shown in FIG. 3.

The pressurizing member 6 has an engagement retaining part 62 at the endof an arm 61 having a slight chevron shape in general view, seen fromthe side, which has a shape that allows engagement with the connectingshaft 84 and holding the engagement. The pressurizing member 6 also hasshaft supports 63 in symmetric positions on the side of the base endthereof. When the shaft supports 63 are fitted in recessed shaftbearings 73 formed in the side walls 71 on the rear of the housing 7,the pressurizing member 6 is rotatably held with the shaft bearings 73as the fulcrum. Forming the recessed shaft bearings 73 in the side walls71 of the housing 7 in a horizontal long hole facilitates the operationof the pressurizing member 6.

As clearly shown in FIG. 3, an elastic arc-shaped arm-supporting member65 is integrally formed on the back near the base end of the arm 61. Theend of the arm supporting member 65 is always in contact with anundersurface 74 of the housing 7, which protrudes toward the cap body 3,to hold the arm 61 in the position (a specified position) shown in FIG.1.

Since the arm 61 has a hemispherical bulge portion 64 at the top of thechevron shape, a pushing part for the pressurizing member 6 can beclearly indicated.

Since the housing 7 is connected to part of the cap body 3, as describedabove, it is preferably molded of plastic such as polypropylene as anintegral part of the cap body 3. In order to fix the attaching position,a pair of flexible plates 75 is provided on the back for holding andpositioning the locking plate 14 provided on the upper shoulder of thereagent vessel 1 therebetween when the cap body 3 is screwed on theopening 12 of the reagent vessel 1, and a leg 76 whose end correspondsto the shape of the shoulder surface is provided on the base of the backof the housing 7, which are integrated to one piece.

When the flexible plates 75 are provided on the back of the housing 7,setting the flexible plate 75 located at rotating position longer thanthe other flexible plate 75 facilitates the engagement with the lockingplate 14 to make positioning easy.

In order to mount the cap structure 2 with such a link mechanism to theopening 12 of the reagent vessel 1, after the pressurizing member 6 isrotatably arranged in the housing 7 in advance, the connecting shaft 84of the connecting part 8 is brought into engagement with the end of thepressurizing member 6, and the whole cap body 3 is then rotated whilethe female screw 32 of the cap body 3 integrated with the housing 7 isscrewed on the male screw 13 of the opening 12 of the vessel body 11,wherein when the female screw 32 and the male screw 13 come in fullengagement with each other, the housing 7 is secured to the top of thevessel body 11 and the sealing member 4 fixed to the end of theconnecting part 8 tightly seals the opening 31 of the cap body 3 (referto FIG. 1).

Referring to FIG. 3, when the bulge portion 64 formed on the arm 61 ofthe pressurizing member 6 is pushed toward the bottom of the housing 7in this state, the entire pressurizing member 6 is slightly slid towardthe opening 31 of the cap body 3 while the arm supporting member 65 isbent by its elasticity and so the end of the arm 61 rotates downwardwith the shaft supports 63 as the fulcrum.

Therefore, the end of the connecting part 8 that connects to theengagement retaining part 62 at the end of the arm 61 through theconnecting shaft 84 is lifted upward with the support shafts 83 as thefulcrum by the downward pressure to the base end, as shown in FIG. 3.Thus, the sealing member 4 integrated with the connecting part 8 isseparated from the opening 31 of the cap body 3. When the connectingpart 8 is raised substantially into vertical position, a liquid reagentcontained in the vessel body 11 can be collected by a necessary amountby bringing down a collecting probe (not shown) vertically from abovethe opening 31 while holding the state (pressure state).

When the collecting probe is pulled up and the pressure applied to thebulge portion 64 of the arm 61 is relaxed after the collection of thereagent with the collecting probe has been completed, the arm supportingmember 65 returns to its initial position by the elastic force of itselfand so the arm 61 also returns to its initial position, or a fixedposition and, at the same time, the retaining part 5 moves downwardtoward the opening 31 to seal it and the sealing member 4 tightly sealsthe opening 31 by the biasing force of the arm supporting member 65,thus preventing the evaporation and contamination of the containedreagent.

In the reagent vessel cap according to the invention, a sealing memberarranged on the opening of a vessel body which contains a reagent islinked with an pressurizing member through a retaining part forretaining the sealing member. Accordingly, when the sealing member isbrought into close contact with the opening by the biasing force of thepressurizing member, the evaporation and the like of the reagent can beprevented, and when the sealing member is moved upward to open thevessel by applying pressure to the pressurizing member, only a necessaryamount of reagent can be collected with a collecting probe in such astate, and thereafter, when the pressure to the pressurizing member isrelaxed, the sealing member can be automatically brought into closecontact with the opening, thus allowing repeated collections by thecollecting probe of an analytical instrument, thus eliminating the needfor removing the cap from the vessel at the time of collection, notexposing the contained liquid reagent to outside air, which almostperfectly prevents alterations in regent concentration and deteriorationof the reagent due to evaporation and the like.

Particularly, in the reagent vessel cap according to the invention,since the vessel is automatically closed, there is no need to remove thecap from the vessel when the reagent for analytical instruments isplaced in an insulating container in the analytical instruments, andthere is no possibility that the reagent flows out even when the vesselfalls by careless handling. Accordingly, the contained reagent can becollected in various analytical instruments as necessary withoutconsideration of the possibility of contamination and evaporation.

In the reagent vessel cap according to the invention, since the sealingmember for tightly sealing the opening of the vessel body is linked withthe pressurizing member through the retaining part, the sealing membercan be opened and closed in a very short operating distance, making thecap structure more compact and achieving a very simple structure.

By the method for collecting a reagent according to the invention, sincethe the vessel that contains the reagent is always tightly sealed, thereagent is not exposed to the outside air, thus causing nocontamination, alteration in reagent concentration, and deterioration ofthe reagent due to evaporation and allowing the collecting probe tocollect the reagent without contact with the sealing member and thevessel body, eliminating the necessity of removing the cap from thevessel, as in the known art, thus allowing efficient collection.

1. A reagent vessel cap comprising: sealing member for sealing theopening of a reagent vessel; a pressurizing member linked to a retainingpart for the sealing member to bring the sealing member in close contactwith the opening all the time, wherein when pressure is applied, thepressurizing member lifts the sealing member against the biasing forceof itself to open the vessel and, when the pressure is eliminated, thepressurizing member returns to position by the biasing force to closethe vessel by the sealing member; a long housing attached to the part ofan outer periphery of the cap integrally and laterally, and having anopening at a top of the housing, wherein the housing is constructed suchthat symmetric shaft bearings formed in the side walls of the housingapart from the cap are horizontal long holes to allow an arm of thepressurizing member to be slightly moved to and fro with the rotation ofthe pressurizing member supported by the shaft bearings; wherein thesealing member, the retaining part, and the pressurizing member arecapable of mounting to the opening of the vessel containing a reagent.2. A reagent vessel cap according to claim 1, wherein the sealing memberis formed of a disk-shaped elastic body in general view and integrallyhas an engaging protrusion in the center of the top, the protrusionhaving a bulge portion for preventing falling-off at an end of theprotrusion.
 3. A reagent vessel cap according to claim 1, wherein theretaining part has a shape of an inverse cup in general view andintegrally has a through hole in the center of a top of the retainingpart for receiving the engaging protrusion of the sealing member andintegrally has a connecting part extending horizontally at part thereof.4. A reagent vessel cap according to claim 3, wherein the connectingpart has a recessed cutout part at an end of the connecting part andintegrally has side plates extending downward vertically on the back ofthe opposite sides of the cutout part, a shaft support on the each sideplate at symmetric positions and a cylindrical or round-rod-likeconnecting shaft therebetween.
 5. A reagent vessel cap according toclaim 1, wherein the pressurizing member has an engagement retainingpart for engaging and retaining a connecting shaft of a connecting part,at an end of an arm having a chevron shape in general view, seen fromthe side of the arm; shaft supports in symmetric positions on a side ofbase end of the arm; and an elastic arc-shaped arm-supporting member isintegrally formed toward the end, on the back near the shaft support. 6.A reagent vessel cap according to claim 5, wherein the arm has ahemispherical bulge portion on a surface of a chevron shaped top of thearm.
 7. A reagent vessel cap according to claim 1, wherein the cap has ashape of a hollow cylinder having a female screw around the innerperiphery, the female screw being in engagement with a male screw of thevessel.
 8. A reagent vessel cap according to claim 4, wherein thehousing comprises recessed shaft bearings for receiving shaft supportsof the connecting part in opposing side walls near the cap and recessedshaft bearings for receiving shaft supports of the arm that constitutesthe pressurizing member in the side walls apart from a body of the cap,respectively.
 9. A reagent vessel cap according to claim 7, wherein thehousing integrally includes an undersurface on an inner bottom of thehousing, which is always in contact with an end of an arm support memberof the pressurizing member, a pair of flexible plates that comes intoengagement with a retaining plate formed on the vessel for positioningon the outer bottom of the housing, and a leg for supporting the housingon the vessel.
 10. A reagent vessel cap according to any one of claims 7to 9, wherein the cap and the housing are molded in one piece ofplastic.
 11. A method for collecting a reagent, comprising the steps of:arranging a sealing member attached to a retaining part for a sealingmember on the opening of a vessel containing a reagent; settinghorizontal long holes of symmetric shaft bearings formed in the sidewalls apart from a cap to allow an arm to be slightly moved to and frowith a rotation of a pressurizing member supported by the shaftbearings; tightly sealing the opening with the sealing member by thebiasing force of a pressurizing member linked with the retaining part toshield the reagent from outside air; pushing the pressurizing memberagainst the urging force to move slightly the arm and rotate the linkedretaining part upward, thereby opening the vessel; and collecting thereagent.